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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28896084">Now Everything's Grey</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/IFLRRYCOULDTALK/pseuds/IFLRRYCOULDTALK'>IFLRRYCOULDTALK</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Direction (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Happy Ending, Homophobia, Larry Stylinson Is Real, M/M, One Direction Reunion, Past Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Reunions, Simon Cowell Being An Asshole, Slurs, Smoking, go check it out there if you want, i re-wrote this on my twitter, it has a happy ending okay, larry stylinson - Freeform, more tags later because i don't want to give it away, my account is the same as my ao3 name, stunts, the prompt is going to be slightly different though</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:42:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,451</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28896084</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/IFLRRYCOULDTALK/pseuds/IFLRRYCOULDTALK</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I was determined to keep working hard, and just ensure that I made myself absolutely essential to the creative and commercial success of the band.” - Louis Tomlinson<br/>---<br/>When larry was real, but insecurity and a powerful businessman got in the way 10 years ago. What happens when old lovers are reunited?<br/>a One Direction reunion au</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi, thank you for reading this! I'm not sure how long it's going to be, but there will be updates every week. My Twitter is IFLRRYCOULDTALK if you want to read my smau's or the other fic that I posted :) enjoy !!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>The boys were currently at the studio finishing up the vocals for their debut album when Simon walked in and approached Louis, "You said you wanted to have a chat, Louis?" Harry looked between his boyfriend and Simon, Louis looked nervous. Harry only knew a little bit about Louis and the sudden insecurity within himself since they all got put together, but Louis wasn't the type to open up easily. Harry would just hold him as he cried. It hurt Harry to see his boyfriend breakdown and not being able to help him. He would try his best and he hoped it was enough. Harry was broken from his thoughts when Louis kissed his cheek, "I'll be right back superstar, smash it during your session babe." Louis smiled at him, and it was filled with so much love and adoration, Harry's face reflected the same expression. The green-eyed boy watched as Louis followed Simon out of the room, "Harry mate, your turn to record" Zayn said when he entered the room. Harry got up and went into the booth to finish his vocals for the album.</p>
<p>-----</p>
<p>Harry walked back into the room that held the rest of the boys to retrieve Liam so he could finish his parts when Louis walked in the room. Harry automatically noticed his boyfriend’s distress and walked right up to him, wrapping him in a tight hug. Louis was stiff in his arms and gently pushed Harry away. The green-eyed boy got concerned when he saw the tears in his lovers' eyes. "Lou, baby, what's wrong? what happened?" Harry questioned, but nothing could've prepared him for what Louis said next, "Harry we need to break up." </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>New chapter! Next one will be up next week, thank you for reading !!<br/>go check out my smau's on my Twitter if you want @IFLRRYCOULDTALK :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>-time jump to June 01, 2021, covid isn’t a thing)- </p><p> </p><p>Louis wakes up to his ringtone blaring through the peacefulness of his bedroom, he rolls over and stuffs his head under the pillow, his current migraine not helping this situation. The ringing stops for a few seconds before starting up again, the boy groans before slowly uncovering his head and reaching his hand out from the warmth of his blanket and into the cold air to retrieve his phone. He answered the call on the last ring, "Hello Louis, it's Charlie from management. Simon called us to tell you that it's time for the reunion, no exceptions! You have a flight to LA in six hours from Heathrow, a car will pick you up two hours before the flight. See you soon!" the call ended abruptly and Louis just stared at his phone in bewilderment before groaning and rolling onto his back throwing an arm over his eyes to try and calm the pounding of his head. He had a flight in six hours and had four hours to pack.</p><p>He groaned again before slowly getting out of bed to make a cuppa and try to find some sort of medicine for his head before he started packing. He traveled into the bathroom to try and find some pain medication, his thoughts were interrupted by the whistling of the kettle that he placed on the stove. He paused his searching to go fix a proper cup of tea then returned to the bathroom. When he couldn't find anything he groaned, muttering a "fucking great, I have to deal with a migraine on the one day I've been trying to avoid." It's true, the blue-eyed boy always had an excuse as to why he couldn't do the reunion whenever modest decided to call him. Every time they called, he just happened to be on a family vacation somewhere, or he had some writing sessions he couldn’t miss; both of which were lies. The blue-eyed boy just didn't want to face the man he was still in love with, the man whose heart he shattered on that day ten years ago.</p><p>He remembers it clearly, the broken look on Harry's face, the sad and confused expressions from Niall, Liam, and Zayn as they watched the whole thing go down, the way Harry crumbled to the floor in tears as Louis was holding back his own. He shakes his head of the memory and wipes his eyes, 'You had to do it' he says to himself, ‘They wouldn’t be here if you didn’t do it’. He walked back up to his bedroom, forgetting his cuppa, and began packing. He only threw a few pieces, some trackies, a few pairs of trainers, and a few of his favorite Adidas jumpers because he already has some clothes in his LA house. When the car pulled up at 1 pm sharp, Louis reluctantly walked out the door and got into the car, not knowing what was going to happen and how things were going to go down with Simon and Modest, but also with the other boys.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading! There will be a new one some time next week! Don't forget to leave kudos :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. II</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The next chapter will be up at the end of the week :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Louis walked onto the private jet and shook hands with the pilot before taking his seat. As the plane took off, that's when Louis realized the severity of the situation, 'they're going to want nothing to do with me' he thought. Truth is, Louis had barely spoken to any of the other members of One Direction during the hiatus. He didn't really even talk much when they were in the band, after the break-up, Louis shut everybody out. He would talk about everything else but not about himself. Whenever the boys would ask if he was okay, he would disregard their statement and completely dodge the question. No one knew what was really going on and how it was slowly killing Louis inside. Louis had no idea if he was going to bring it back for the reunion or not, the blue-eyed boy didn't want to go through with that again. He remembers the hurt expression on his (ex) loves face, Louis could never forget that expression. He saw it every time he closed his eyes. That look haunted him, but he couldn't find it in himself to regret what he did whenever he sees the green-eyed boy jumping around and dancing on stage in his gorgeous flamboyant outfits. Louis decided to try and close his eyes to get more sleep to calm his pounding head and racing mind. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He was successful for about an hour then he was up. The Doncaster lad decided to write some songs to pass the time. He pulled out his laptop that had all his files on it when he found a file of unreliable One Direction songs. He smiled slightly as he read the titles and got little memory flashes of the writing sessions. He decided to listen to some of the old 1D songs instead. He took out his phone and opened Spotify to the One Direction artist page and clicked shuffle. As each song played he would get a flash of a memory, just for a second then it was gone. “I Wish” started playing and Louis felt his eyes well up with tears as the memories started flashing,</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis walked out of the meeting room with shaky hands and tears welling up in his eyes, ‘you have to do this’ he thought. Louis started taking deep breaths as he walking into the room that held the rest of One Direction. He opened the door to the room and slowly walked in, as he shut the door and turned around he locked eyes with Harry, the love of his life, the sunshine that light up his darkest days. He had to do it, they said he had to. Louis could see the concern in Harry’s eyes as he walked towards him. The green-eyed boy wrapped his strong arms around Louis as he whispered reassurances into Louis's hair, he blue-eyed boy was going to miss this. Louis backed away and looked up into Harry’s confused eyes, "Harry we need to break up." </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis watches as Harry’s face falls and tears cloud up his gorgeous green eyes, "W-what? W-why Louis? Did I-I do s-something?" Louis cut him off, "Harry, it has nothing to do with you, it's all me. You did nothing wrong, you're going to be okay now. I can't explain to you why but maybe someday I can, but you are going to be okay." Louis said with a slightly watery smile, "Promise me one last thing, promise me that you'll always be your true self superstar." Harry was almost sobbing at this point, "P-promise" he said breathless and barely above a whisper. "Good, remember that I will always love you, no matter what," Louis said, voice breaking at the end. Harry nodded his head and Louis quickly left the room before anyone could see him breakdown, he was the oldest he had to do it, that was what they said so I had to be the best option...right?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The song ended and Louis wiped his eyes. That day was by far the worst day of his life. The day he broke his soulmate's heart, and Louis was now on a flight that would take him right back to him. He would be lying if he said he wasn't shitting himself, Harry has definitely moved on by now and Louis is still very much in love with him, but Louis made his decision ten years ago and he once again can't seem to regret it.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading! I have a few smau's on my Twitter account if you want to go check them out !! My account is @IFLRRYCOULDTALK :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. III</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The next chapter should be up at the end of the week !! Enjoy !!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>When Louis got into the car that was waiting for him at LAX, he could feel the panic start to settle itself deep inside his gut. He quickly makes the realization that he hasn't talked to his bandmates in five years, which doesn't really help with his current panicking. 'How are they going to act when they see me? Are they going to be mad because I kept making up excuses as to why I couldn't do the reunion sooner? Are they going to welcome me with open arms even though I've been a complete arse the past five years? They're going to want nothing to do with me' he thought. 'They're going to kick me out of the band, I know it.'</p>
<p>His hands started to tremble as his mind went through all of the what-if situations. He quickly reached into his carry-on bag and pulled out his packet of cigs and a lighter. He inhaled and sighed at the feeling of smoke coat his lungs before exhaling. He instantly felt more relaxed.</p>
<p>When they pulled up to Louis’s LA house, he thanked the driver while grabbing his bags and opened up the front door. He walked in and looked around, there was always a difference in the way it felt to be in his LA house instead of his London house. LA felt more like work, the house felt too cold and too big. London felt more like home, he was closer to his family and it was less stressful being in London. Although the blue-eyed boy knew it would never fully feel like home without the one he loved.</p>
<p>He sighed and brought his bags up to his bedroom and flopped down on the bed. The small boy closed his eyes as he felt his migraine begin to creep up on him again. He wrapped his arms around his head, silently praying that the pounding would stop. He eventually fell asleep hoping and praying that this reunion thing wouldn't be as terrible as he imagined.</p>
<p>~•~</p>
<p>He was woken up the next day to his loud ringtone blaring through the house again. He groaned and answered the phone, "What?!" he said with an exasperated tone. "Now now" Louis’s eyes widened and his face paled at the sound of that voice. "That's no way to speak to your boss, is it?" he could hear the smirk and the poison in Simon's voice. Louis stayed silent, "Answer me, boy, we don't have all day" "N-no" he stuttered out. He hasn't seen or heard the man in five years, he forgot how much he hated the sound of his voice, how much it scared him.</p>
<p>"Good, you have a meeting with us and the other boys at 1 pm today, don't be late." Louis froze when he heard the tone of Simon's voice, the disgust was extremely evident and it made Louis's stomach turn. He heard the call end and he threw his phone at the wall as he screamed. He didn't want to do this but he had to. He could tell Simon was going to make him do it again and he wasn't prepared. This was the main reason why he didn't want the reunion but he couldn't tell anyone. Tears welled up in his eyes at the thought but he quickly pushed them away and went to go get ready for this fucking meeting.</p>
<p>~•~</p>
<p>Louis parked his car in the lot and took a deep breath, he had just enough time to bang his head against the steering wheel a few times and have a quick smoke. He hadn't always smoked, he picked it up towards the end of the band as everything got a bit too much. The boys tried to get him to quit, and to their knowledge, he did quit, but what they don’t know won’t hurt them. Louis threw his cigarette on the ground and put it out on the concrete before taking a deep breath and walking into the building.</p>
<p>He walked the familiar halls and all the memories he had locked away started coming back, the yelling, the tears, the looks, and those same 20 bloody words they would yell at him over and over again whenever he was trapped inside the walls of those crisp white rooms. Those same 20 words he swore he wouldn't believe, but when you hear them every day, consistently for five years, it's hard not to. It was all starting to come back to him.</p>
<p>Louis paused outside the door to collect himself, take a deep breath, and at exactly 1 pm, he opened the door. As he walked in, Louis saw his four other bandmates, Simon, and the whole modest team snap their heads up in his direction with blank expressions.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading! I have a few smau's on my Twitter account if you want to go check them out !! My account is @IFLRRYCOULDTALK</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Author's Note</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hey, y'all! I just wanted to tell you that I'll be changing and revamping the prompt and outline for this fic and turning it into an SMAU on my Twitter account. It'll be slightly different than my original idea, but hopefully, you'll still enjoy it! So, hopefully, I'll see you over on Twitter! My account is @IFLRRYCOULDTALK and the first few parts should be up on March 8th, 2021 :)</p><p>Update 04/12/21: Hey y'all ! The SMAU has been finished for a bit now, but it's called "Till Forever Falls Apart" if you want to check it out, the link is in my pinned tweet on my Twitter !</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading this chapter! There will be a new one sometime next week ! Don't forget to leave kudos :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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